The 1952 Topps Baseball is undoubtedly the most iconic post-war baseball issues, and perhaps only the T206 tobacco and 1933 Goudey gum series from the pre-war era stand in its way from staking claim to the cardboard throne. The 1952 design featured full team logos, colorized photography, and a facsimile signature of the player taken from their contract with Topps. The larger size (2-5/8" x 3-3/4") and bold imagery gained hold of early 1950s collectors and placed Topps at the forefront of the bubble gum sport card business.

Featured in this lot is a hobby-fresh 1952 Topps Baseball partial set containing 234 out of the 407 required to make it complete. Most cards. graded and raw, fall in the lower condition range with some outliers in mid-grade form. Highlights include three of the top African American ballplayers from the period (Willie Mays, Larry Doby & Monte Irvin), several Hall of Famers and stars, and ten cards from the coveted high-number Series 6 (#'s 311-407). We recently submitted 14 cards to SGC for grading and here are the results: #175 Billy Martin RC – SGC VG 3; #191 Yogi Berra – SGC VG 3; #243 Larry Doby – SGC VG/EX 4; #261 Willie Mays – SGC VG 3; #277 Early Wynn – SGC VG/EX 4; #313 Bobby Thomson – SGC VG/EX 4; #334 Wilmer Mizell – SGC VG 3; #336 Dave Koslo – SGC VG 3; #337 Jim Hearn – SGC VG/EX 4; #343 Dick Gernert – SGC VG 3; #346 George Spencer – SGC GD 2; #353 Bob Del Greco – SGC VG 3; #365 Cookie Lavagetto – SGC VG 3; and #392 Hoyt Wilhelm – SGC FR 1.5.

Among the ungraded list, there are a few miscuts and pen-marked commons that have been identified. Raw notables include: #5 Jansen VG, #35 Sauer FR, #23 Pesky GD, #26 Irvin GD, #59 Roberts FR, #65 Slaughter, GD, #66 Roe AUTH (Trimmed), #81 Law VG, #88 Feller GD, #92 Mitchell VG+, #94 Mele VG (MK), #117 Lollar VG-EX, #129 Mize VG, #157 Usher GD (MK), #162 Crandall VG, #168 Silvera RC GD, #171 Erautt GD (MC), #177 Wright VG-EX (MC), #179 Smith VG (MK), #216 Ashburn GD, #233 Friend RC GD, #235 Dropo GD (MC), #237 Coleman FR (MC, MK on back), #246 Kell GD, #251 Carrasquel VG-EX, #259 Addis EX (MC on back), #264 Hartsfield VG+, #267 Gordon VG+, #268 Lemon EX, #272 Garcia EX, #274 Branca VG, #276 Wilson EX, #280 Boyer VG-EX, #286 DeMaestri VG-EX, #295 Cavaretta VG-EX, #296 Rolfe VG, #302 Surkont VG+, #306 Sleater VG-EX, #318 Gregg GD (MC on back).

It should be noted that 21 cards have varying degrees of paper loss on the back (fronts are fine, ranging FR to VG looking): #178 Michaels, #192 Ginsberg, #193 Simpson, #195 Minoso RC, #196 Hemus, #197 Strickland, #202 Collins, #208 Stuart, #209 Fox, #210 Fowler, #213 Jones, #215 Bauer, #218 McCullough, #299 Beardon, #231 Zoldak, #232 Cox, #241 Byrne, #244 Wertz, #248 Shea, #250 Erkine, #299 Murray.